With the return of Bird House Rules, I am getting back into my groove on this blog. Que Publishing has been instrumental in bringing me back into this groove after contacting me concerning All a Twitter. As mentioned in the previous BHR,  the book is being featured once again in Barnes & Noble Bookstores everywhere, and asked me “Whatever you can do to get the word out…”  I sent out a query to my Twitter and Facebook networks, letting them know that I was available for interviews.

From Twitter I heard from long-time-friend of the Bird House @Odin1eye who featured me in a particularly fun interview on his blog View From Vahalla. This blog features podcast reviews, commentary and rants on Social Media and the world it impacts, and (now) interviews. Odin1eye and I talk about about how Twitter has changed, where it is headed, and what went into the writing of All a Twitter. Here’s a selection from the interview:

When Mashable.com cites your website, you know you’re doing something right. Andrew Girdwood must be thinking that as a lot of people are following his lead when Mashable’s Stan Schroeder reported early this morning:

Numerous Twitter users are pointing out that Twitter forced them to change their passwords out of the blue. According to blogger Andrew Girdwood, these users have received an e-mail containing the following message: “Due to concern that your account may have been compromised in a phishing attack that took place off-Twitter, your password was reset,” together with a link for resetting the password.

Although the e-mail itself looks like a phishing attack, it’s genuine; it seems that admins at Twitter have discovered something fishy is going on, and they’re trying to prevent further damage before it happens.

I’ve been reading up on this all morning (with postings from TechCrunch and The Washington Post as examples); and while this situation shouldn’t be taken lightly, I am not scrambling to change my passwords on my accounts. Why?

1. I’m finding out about this scam via Twitter.
2. The people on Twitter are finding out via an “official email” from Twitter.com.
3. On Twitter’s Status and News blogs and on Twitter’s own feed, there is no mention of this phishing scam whatsoever.

Just when you thought I was done with TweetDeck v0.32.1…

TEE MORRIS’ TWEETDECK EPISODE
THE VIDEO PODCAST!

The audio is still the same, but now I have MOVING PICTURES to go with it! this is NOT going to be a regular feature at the Bird House, but when the mood strikes me, when the time allows, and when it is something that REALLY NEEDS the visuals, I will offer this kind of video addendum. I hope you all enjoy it!

Imagine That! Studios now presents to you the highlights of TweetDeck v0.32.1…in colour!

Featured movie and TV clips:

• Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl
  
• Iron Man
  
• Monty Python’s “Spanish Inquisition” sketch
  
• Firefly

Featured Resources on Twitter:

• “What’s New on v0.32″ from TweetDeck’s Support Forum
• Camtasia for the Mac
• LinkedIn
• Facebook
• YouTube.com

Album Artwork by Paul Fischer of Dancing Cat Studios

Feel free to syndicate this audio, and provide feedback or topics you’d like to hear discussed on Bird House Rules at 703.791.1701, tmorris (at) imaginethatstudios (dot) com, Twitter, or here at the Bird House Rules Blog!

 Episode #8a: Keeping Up with TweetDeck v0.32.1 (video) : Download (395)

Finally….after several attempts…after daring the Fates…after waiting for just the right time…and weathering an unseasonal snowfall in Washington, D.C.

TEE MORRIS’ TWEETDECK EPISODE!

This has been a long time coming, and I have decided to pull out all the stops and not only post a longer-than-usual BHR, but in the feed tomorrow and posting on YouTube as well will be an accompanying video companion to this podcast, filmed and edited on both Camtasia and the Final Cut Suite, bit-cheeezzz!

A labor of love and a lot to take in, here comes the highlights of TweetDeck v0.32.1!

Guest introduction by Coach Ian Scott

Featured movie and TV clips:

• Six Million Dollar Man
• Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl
  
• Iron Man
  
• Monty Python’s “Spanish Inquisition” sketch
  
• Firefly

Featured Resources on Twitter:

• “What’s New on v0.32″ from TweetDeck’s Support Forum
• Camtasia for the Mac
• LinkedIn
• Facebook
• YouTube.com

Album Artwork by Paul Fischer of Dancing Cat Studios

 

 Episode #8: Keeping Up with TweetDeck v0.32.1 [11:04m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (288)

Feel free to syndicate this audio, and provide feedback or topics you’d like to hear discussed on Bird House Rules at 703.791.1701, tmorris (at) imaginethatstudios (dot) com, Twitter, or here at the Bird House Rules Blog!

A question I get a lot on Twitter is what the “RT” preceding a tweet is all about? That’s the “Retweet” and this episode spends some quality time talking about a popular method of making 140-character posts a viral sensation. I retweet. Many Twitterakians retweet. It’s a part of Twitter. This means that, of course, some users really abuse the retweet.

So for this particular Bird House Rules, take your shoes off at the door, assume the Lotus position, and breathe in deep. We are here to explore the Zen of Retweet.

Guest introduction by Viv

Featured movie and TV clips:

• Star Wars
  
• Aliens
• Farscape
• Stripes

Featured Resources on Twitter:

• “Why the Retweet Will Kill Twitter” from Jenner Web Design Blog

Album Artwork by Paul Fischer of Dancing Cat Studios

 

 Episode #7: The Zen of Retweet [9:42m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (303)

Feel free to syndicate this audio, and provide feedback or topics you’d like to hear discussed on Bird House Rules at 703.791.1701, tmorris (at) imaginethatstudios (dot) com, Twitter, or here at the Bird House Rules Blog!

A few podcasters have asked if the Bird House had a promo for people to play on their own respective podcasts. I hadn’t really gotten around to it until podcaster and storyteller Starla Hutchon asked me for a promo to kick off an episode of The Dreamer’s Thread. So I finally settled down and put together something for people to circulate and play in their own podcasts, or just to drop in their feeds for the fun of it.

Play. Listen. Subscribe. Tweet.

 

 The Official Bird House Rules Promo [0:52m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (247)

See you at the Bird House.

As promised, here’s a completely off-the-beaten-path episode of Bird House Rules (which will also appear on Imagine That Studio’s In Your Right Mind and the New Zealand podcast Whispers at the Edge. Three times the size of a usual Bird House Rules, this special edition features special guest Philippa Ballantine, and is part-Social Media discussion/part-Arts Review of Cirque Du Soleil. Cirque offered to Blogworld attendees free tickets to any of their shows in exchange for reviews of whatever show they saw.

Pip and I are reviewing three:

• Zumanity
• O
• Ká

Yes, Ká was that good!

We wanted to say “Thank you” and go above and beyond what Cirque asked of us. Enjoy this special edition of Bird House Rules and Whispers at the Edge, and make plans to catch a Cirque du Soleil show in Las Vegas.

Guest introduction by Philippa Ballantine

Featured Links:

• Imagine That! Studios
• The Official Website of Philippa Ballantine
• Erotica ala Carte

Album Artwork by Paul Fischer of Dancing Cat Studios

 

 Special Edition: Cirque du Social Media [36:08m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (316)

Feel free to syndicate this audio, and provide feedback or topics you’d like to hear discussed on Bird House Rules at 703.791.1701, tmorris (at) imaginethatstudios (dot) com, Twitter, or here at the Bird House Rules Blog!

Today on Twitter I got an unexpected DM from a familiar name in my network:

When I clicked on the link, I was asked for my Username and Password.  Ummm…no. So I attempted to ping my Twitter contact here and ask if this was, in fact, a real URL. I could not get a DM reply to appear.

And then on the main feed, I saw this from @spam, Twitter’s Spam Hotline:

You might think this is common sense, but it may surprise you how easily people surrender their passwords, particularly from DMs coming from friends and acquaintances.

Be careful!
Someone is out there get phreaky with the phishing.

Just remember these safety twips when you are out in the Twitterverse:

• Never give out your password, even if it’s to someone you know or if they are promising you a bucketload of followers.
• If you do get a DM asking for your password, try to contact the friend on the open feed asking why?
• If someone is, in fact, DMing others with your account, immediately change your password, log out, wait a few ticks, then log in with the new password.
• If you can, change your password for Twitter every 30-60 days.

Twitter is on the case, but make sure you let your fellow Twitterakians know that something  is afoot. Stay safe, everyone, and tweet happy!

So, I turned my back for a moment, and Twitter went on and changed their interface on me. Hello! Well, maybe it’s not that dramatic, but it did need to be addressed, especially if you are using All a Twitter as your guide though beginning steps.  It may not seem like a big deal, but here’s a quick glimpse of what someone’s page on Twitter.com looks like now…

Thank you, Dan Sawyer, for loaning me your Twitter.com page as a show-and-tell!

Let’s take ten for this Bird House Rules to talk about some of the tweaks that have taken place on your Twitter homepage.

Quick reminder: I’m going to be speaking at Blogworld this year, so please come on out and say “Hi!” I also encourage tweeting from my speaking events. Keeps things lively!

Guest introduction by Katherina

Drop-in from this episode are from:

• Stargate SG-1
• Black Adder
• Iron Man
• Army of Darkness
  

Album Artwork by Paul Fischer of Dancing Cat Studios

 

 Episode #4: Twitter Tweaks [8:57m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (387)

Feel free to syndicate this audio, and provide feedback or topics you’d like to hear discussed on Bird House Rules at 703.791.1701, tmorris (at) imaginethatstudios (dot) com, Twitter, or here at the Bird House Rules Blog!

What’s the topic of the day at the Bird House? Inspired by an August 20, 2009 article entitled What People Are Tweeting About, the marketing magazine eMarketer and Pear Analytics took a closer look at the traffic on Twitter in order to answer the question “What is the purpose of Twitter?”

I ask the question “Does Twitter — or Social Media on a whole — need a purpose?”

Other articles cited in this episode:

“One Blog Created Every Second” (Aug 2, 2009), BBC News

Chris Brogan’s “Birds on a Wire”

Chris Abraham’s “All a Twitter is Twitter for Smarties”

Linda Vandevrede’s “Finally a Very Readable Book about Twitter” (for Valley PR Blog)

Guest introduction by Chris Lester

“That’s a fact, Jack!” from Stripes

Album Artwork by Paul Fischer of Dancing Cat Studios

 

 Episode #3: Get to the Pointless! [9:59m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (350)

Feel free to syndicate this audio, and provide feedback or topics you’d like to hear discussed on Bird House Rules at 703.791.1701, tmorris (at) imaginethatstudios (dot) com, Twitter, or here at the Bird House Rules Blog!